The Federal Ministry of Health is advocating routine testing, vaccination as well as treatment to reduce the occurrence of Hepatitis which it believes has ravaged the nation.

The Director, Prevention and Control, AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Infections, at the Ministry of Health, Chukwuma Anyaike said there are approximately 19 million people with the Hepatitis B virus in Nigeria.

He said this while addressing journalists after a road walk in Abuja, to mark the 2017 World Hepatitis Day according to the World Health Organisation (W.H.O).

According to Mr Anyaike, the disease is responsible for an estimated 700 thousand deaths annually in the nation.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver caused by the Hepatitis virus. However, other infections, toxic substances such as alcohol and intake of certain drugs, autoimmune diseases can also cause Hepatitis.

The W.H.O said in 2015 alone, over 300 million people globally suffered from the various types of Hepatitis, A, B, C, and D, leading to the deaths of an estimated 1.3 million people in the same year.

Experts, however, argue strongly that with adequate information about the disease and its mode of transmission and treatment options available, an average of seven million lives can be saved globally by the year 2030.